Hi all – not been here for a while, but am in the unenviable position of having to replace some gear shifters. What is the current view on Shimano Dual control shifters, in particular regarding the choice of rapid-rise or top-normal rear mechs. Looking at the documentation, the gear shift with top-normal looks more logical to me (press down for lower gears, flick the auxilliary lever for higher), but I’ve seen a review elsewhere that says they work beter with Top-normals.

Thanks in advance….

Shimano intended dual control to be used with low-normal (rapid rise) and when I have ridden DC it has always made sense with that mech. However many people use top-normal and I know Specialized spec’ed their dual control bikes this way.

Low-normal for me.

Ah – didn’t know that about Spesh – they don;t normslly do daft things!

Thanks!

when I ran DC I preferred low-normal, but horse and courses I guess.

I can’t stand Rapid Rise, both my MTBs have Dual Control with top-normal mechs, works for me. 🙂

Rapid Rise is supposed to prolong drivetrain lifetime also. O always used rapid rise with DC, and found it very intuitive, even swapping in quick succession between triggers and DC, it just seems the right way for it to work when you’re using it.

it just seems the right way for it to work when you’re using it.

That’s cos it is. Thumb lever to shift down – just like Rapidfire.

Definitely prefer rapid rise with my DC’s.